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CHAPTER FOUR

H yax had enough self-awareness to know he didn’t like to share, and could be prone to the odd jealous twinge, but this reaction to the way Solivatus treated Gwil was beyond anything he’d experienced and had caused a fiery bolt of pure possessiveness to scream through him. He’d barely been able to contain his anger and had at least stopped himself from throwing Gwil over his shoulder as he stormed out. He’d even thought to open a portal and drag Gwil with him but that would have been disastrous, knowing how Gwil’s anatomy did not fare well in the fae portals. Reducing his boyfriend to a crispy fried vampire due to a hissy fit would not be the best way of endearing himself to Gwil.

He had seethed all the way home, knowing it wasn’t prudent to vocalise anything negative while in a car owned by Flume. When the front door shut behind them, he turned on Gwil. “Solivatus is a giant fucking creep.”

Gwil schooled his expression. “I’m not arguing, but he’s my sire, Hyax. He’s not what I’d call a constant in my life… er… afterlife, but I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t turned me.”

“That doesn’t give him the right to put his hands on you now.”

“There are some schools of thought that would disagree,” Gwil said. “But he’s not one of them. He did it to get a response, and you gave him one.”

Hyax sneered. “What was I supposed to do, sit back and let him paw at you? You’re my betrothed.”

“Am I?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

“Well, according to your parents, your betrothed is Metra and I’m your side fuck.”

Hyax wasn’t going to stand for that. “Solivatus doesn’t know what’s going on with me and Metra. As far as your little vampire friends are concerned, we’re planning to marry and he put his hands on you.”

“That’s what you’re pissed off at? That a man I’ve known for over one-hundred and fifty years put his hand on my knee? He didn’t even ask to see my ankles.”

“Gwil, don’t take the fucking piss.”

“You’re getting angry at me because someone touched my knee… or is it because they told you not to fuck me over?”

“What?”

Gwil snorted and stomped up the stairs. “Ah, it was that. This isn’t you thinking someone might crack on to me, but that they’ve had the audacity to tell you not to treat me like shit. Well, laugh’s on them, eh, Hyax? I’m about to be booted to the kerb.”

For a moment he was stymied. This wasn’t about his feelings for Gwil but that his sire was overstepping. He charged up the stairs. Gwil wasn’t in the front room, but in true British form, the bastard was in the kitchen filling the kettle.

“You’re making tea?”

“Yes, do you want one?” Gwil asked, keeping his back to him.

“Gwil, don’t be fucking ridiculous. You’ve just accused me of not caring—of course I don’t want bloody tea.”

He saw Gwil’s shoulders sag, but he didn’t turn. “I didn’t think you’d want me to tear your throat out, so the next best thing to calm me down is tea.”

“Arsehole.”

“Prick.” Gwil slammed a mug on the counter and threw a teabag into it. “You’re the one who’s out of line, not me.”

Hyax wanted to argue but the fight drained out of him as reality hit. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to have such a reaction to Solivatus.”

Gwil turned and leant against the counter. “You’ve always been a bit funny about him, but I didn’t expect you to be so rattled.”

“It was the way he said it’s been a while since you’d caught up in a suggestive way, and then he put his hands on you.”

“He’s my sire, and for many vampires that has a sexual element, but it doesn’t mean I am interested in shagging him again. I told you this before we went.”

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to fuck you.”

“You know, if I took issue with every man wanted to bend you over, I’d be fighting half the people I meet. But I trust you, so you need to trust me. I admit there is a level of deference I have for him, but that wouldn’t mean I would take up any offer and risk what we have.”

He did trust Gwil. Gwil wasn’t the sort to cheat, no matter what his link to his sire. “I’m sorry if this is coming across as if I don’t trust you, I’m more shaken than I thought I would be, and then the fucker told me not to upset you… and that’s inevitable.”

If his unease was just about Solivatus then Hyax would’ve told himself he was being a twat and that would have been the end of it, but the issue was bigger than Gwil’s past and while it wasn’t Hyax’s fault over Metra, he still carried the guilt.

Gwil took a step closer. “To be fair to you, you’re not doing anything to upset me, you can’t help the position you’ve been put in and I’ll have to find a way of dealing with it because I’m not walking away. So I would appreciate it if you could try and do the same over Solivatus.”

Hyax pulled him into his arms, the depth of his feelings for this ridiculous man was like nothing he’d been prepared for. He’d thought he’d been in love with Gwil before they got together but now it was ten times anything he’d experienced. Even with all the chaos dating someone of his status would load onto Gwil’s shoulders he was still there for him.

“I will, I promise. It’s just I want the old goat to know you’re mine. And if he’s like this now, how’s he going to be when everything comes out about Metra?”

Gwil stroked his hair. “We’ll deal with him. I ain’t gonna let Solivatus console me or anything like that.”

Hyax stepped away. “He’d do that?”

“He did after I ended things with Hoffman, but we ain’t splitting up.”

Gwil hadn’t said much about him or the fallout, just that their split had been amicable. They were still in touch, now and again, and Hyax hadn’t given it much consideration.

“Do I want to know the sort of support he might offer?” He knew it was the wrong thing to say but he couldn’t stop the words escaping.

“Hyax, you’re being a knob. You don’t need me to tell you what happened. I’ve told you before, and I’m telling you again—it was nothing more than a brief physical release, so unless you’re planning to ditch me, it’s not an issue.”

“If anyone would be ending things, it’d be you. And I wouldn’t blame you with all the shit that’s flying around.”

Gwil scowled. “Do I need to say it in another language? Or sing it in falsetto? I’ve told you I’m not going anywhere. You need to park that idea before you make me think you want me to leave.”

Hyax was fucking everything up, he didn’t want to lose Gwil, and he was out of order. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry and act like my partner instead. We’ve got a lot of stuff we’re going to have to deal with and we can do so together, but not if you’re all words and no action. Because if you’re going to act like I’m not worth the hassle, then we’ll go back to being business partners.”

He hadn’t fallen for Gwil because he was a pushover, but because their strong personalities had matched. Neither of them would do well with a meek partner and it was possible that seeing how Gwil was with his sire had triggered his reaction. “Understood, I’m not going to act like a bag of pus on a goblin’s ball sac and we’re going to get through this.”

Gwil laughed. “I don’t think I’d have ever thought of you in such a light, but I guess the analogy holds up. Actually, I was thinking can we use the Prince Simon stuff to our advantage.”

He couldn’t see how. “Really? I guess it’ll be good for our business, although I’m not sure it’s something we’d be able to share with many people.”

“The Vampire Council will know and that’ll give us brownie points from them, but I was more thinking of it as a way of putting off your parents from announcing your betrothal to Metra.”

Hyax would need to contact his mother about the request to help King James, and it was a perfect delaying tactic when it came to their other problem. “You might be onto something. There’s going to be a certain sensitivity regarding my involvement, but we couldn’t turn the request down as we can come at that from the Vampire Council angle.”

“I’m not just a pretty fang.”

“No, and I find your intelligence as fucking sexy as the fact you don’t need to breathe when you’re sucking my cock.”

“Blond twat.”

“Blood-sucking wanker.”

“I wank a lot less now we live together.”

If Gwil had been a fae there’d have been so many things he’d have done as part of their customs, and it struck him that Gwil being a vampire didn’t mean he couldn’t do those things. “Are you free for the rest of the evening?”

“Yeah, I’ve always stuff to do but nothing that can’t wait.”

“Give me half an hour, there’s somewhere I want to take you, but I need to arrange a couple of things.”

Gwil seemed bemused. “What are you playing at?”

“I assure you I’m not playing. Take a shower, put on something nice, I’m going to show you off at home, but I need to call in a couple of favours.”

“Hyax?”

He opened a portal. “Make yourself pretty, I’m going to show the fae world that you’re my beloved. I might have to call Metra my husband, but there’ll be no doubt where my real affections lie.”

Gwil bit his lip. “You don’t have to do anything.”

“Yes, I do.”

He stepped through the portal into a reception area for La Pian. The fae behind the desk squeaked as she recognised him. “Your Highness! How can I be of assistance?”

He felt sorry for her, she was young, and while La Pian catered for the elite of fae society, she wouldn’t have expected him to arrive unannounced.

“I want a table on the mound, first press ambrosia and a viewing suite for two.”

“Of course, Prince Hyax. When would you like it?”

“Now.”

He saw her wings vibrate and he guessed his request wouldn’t be easy. “We are fully booked at the moment.”

“Right. How soon?”

She frantically checked the list in front of her, and while Hyax didn’t like to throw his rank around, he wasn’t above doing so today.

“If you could give me an hour, I can make it happen.”

He smiled. “Thank you, I’ll be very appreciative.”

Hyax stepped through a portal into his rooms at the palace. He sent Gwil a text that he’d collect him in an hour and set about getting ready. Removing his jacket, he remembered the spark from Queen Hylei.

He laid the small glowing ball in the palm of his hand and spoke his birth date. Often, these were tuned to the recipient’s magic, but they had only met once, at the wedding, and she wouldn’t have been able to lock onto him.

“Prince Hyax,” the message began, “you will have been contacted via your partner’s sire. I apologise for using that channel but official communication opportunities between our tribes are limited, and I am beyond desperate. I hope you can help me. My son was kidnapped, we can’t trace him, and we have used every avenue we can think of apart from one… you have a vampire lover, and I believe there is an alternative branch of magic you can access, or you may already have. This spark is encoded with a signature that will allow us to correspond with each other, if you are willing to help, please contact me. I will be forever grateful.”

Hyax would have thought that with James being a vampire-fae he’d have been able to utilise the magic Hylei had mentioned, but it sounded as if that wasn’t the case. He sent back a spark message of his own, confirming he would be happy to help but would need more details.

For now, he would need to wait for her reply, and he had a date with his favourite sexy vampire.